Page 3 of Seducing Jenny
An hour passed and we circled the same questions, coming up with no concrete plan. In fact, all we had were more questions.
“Why does Justice even care about Illiapol?” Tiger asked. “Yes, it’s a global celebration, and yes, he runs the whole planet, but that’s my point. He already has everything he could ever want, so why would he give a shit about whether we helped Jenny cheat?”
“That’s precisely why he cares,” Discord said. “He has total control over Orhon. Since he executed the conduits, he is theultimate authority here. Unlike any ruler in all of Ladrian history, he does not share power—”
“Which means,” I interrupted, sitting up straighter, “since I won, and I’m just a piddly Earth human, he looks especially weak because he and his cronies were the ones hunting me. Now that all of them but him are dead, and legally speaking,Ikilled them…”
Discord nodded. “You, Jenny Hollinger, made the all-powerful Ruler of Orhon look weaker than a human.”
“This is all my fault.” I buried my face in my hands. “I should have just died at Illiapol—”
“Don’t ever say that again,” Tiger demanded. “Not ever.”
I looked at him. “If I had died, then Mal wouldn’t be in that awful serenity bag and suffering. You, Longshot, Surge, Discord, none of you would be at risk. We need to figure out a plan.”
“You have no idea how right you are,” Longshot said as he walked back out from the mansion, returning from the palace faster than I’d anticipated.
“Any word?” Tiger asked.
Longshot sighed wearily as he dropped into a chair. “There is good news and bad. Mal is not at the royal prison.”
“That’s great,” I said, feeling a little optimistic. “What’s the bad news?”
“That is also the bad news. I don’t know where he is.” Longshot poured himself a cup of coffee from the carafe on the table and took a sip. “Additionally, Justice is having a fit, because the rest of the council is dead.”
“He didn’t seem to be too broken up about it last night,” I pointed out.
“That was his party face. Today…” he trailed off, his eyes hard. “He is less than amused. I have been tapped for the new council. The others he wants to appoint…they are not as gentle as the former council members.”
Discord sat straighter. “Who else is he bringing in?”
“He has not shared all of them with me. He told me he is recruiting aspecialcouncil member, and whatever that means it cannot be good. The ones I know of so far are Rasmine Vebber—”
“Oh, hell,” Discord groaned, tipping her head back.
“Zavarion Saltino—”
“He’s back?” Surge asked, looking both shocked and oddly happy.
“And Thunder Bateen.”
“Fuck,” Discord, Surge, and Tiger said together.
“And we’re not happy about these people, I take it?” I said.
“I’m glad to hear that Zavi is back,” Surge said. “But Rasmine Vebber is a vicious warlord and Thunder Bateen is…a Bateen. She’s Justice’s sister, and ever since the war, she’s ruled the second largest city in Orhon, Yesanol, and you see what power has done to Justice…”
I rubbed my fingers across my forehead. “Okay. That sounds like trouble ahead, but I’m more concerned with the troublenow, so let’s focus on Mal. You don’t have any idea where he is, right?”
“That is correct,” Longshot confirmed.
“Then we need someone who does.” I shifted my gaze back to the man sitting beside me. “Tiger, what about your boss, Jac?”
“We cannot contact them over open channels. Too risky,” he said. “We’ll need to get back to the ship at the city dump.”
Discord gaped at him. “That’swhere your ship is?”
Tiger shrugged. “It was the safest place to keep it.”
